Budaj, Canadiens blank Rangers

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Peter Budaj stopped all 27 shots he faced
as the Montreal Canadiens posted a 2-0 victory over the New York Rangers on
Monday.

Thanks to Budaj's first shutout of the season and goals from Tomas Plekanec
and Alex Galchenyuk, the Canadiens won their fourth straight road game since
taking a 3-2 loss in Calgary on Oct. 9.

"It was a great team victory," Budaj said. "We did the little things right."

Meanwhile, the Rangers continued to struggle as they lost for the sixth time
in the past eight games and have scored just 11 goals over that span. Henrik
Lundqvist made 25 stops in the loss.

It was New York's home opener as the team began the season with a nine-game
road trip due to a $1 billion renovation project at Madison Square Garden.

"It's fun to play here again," Lundqvist said. "It was a disappointing loss
but it was great to be back."

Montreal got the only goal it needed at 16:34 of the second period while on
the power play. Michael Bournival skated into the zone down the middle and
sent the puck over to his left for Plekanec, who skated to the front and
switched to the backhand before stuffing it in for his sixth goal of the
season.

Budaj turned aside 14 shots in the second period after making seven in the
first, and helped his team kill off a pair of power plays in the third,
including one after a slashing call on Andrei Markov with 7:19 to play.

The Canadiens sealed the win with 2:51 left after a turnover in their own end
resulted in a 2-on-1 the other way. Galchenyuk took the puck in down the left
wing and passed it to the front for Lars Eller, who sent a backhand pass over
to the left where the puck went off Galchenyuk's right skate and in.

Game Notes

Budaj has 11 shutouts in his career ... Montreal hosts Dallas on Tuesday ...
The Canadiens took all three games against the Rangers last season and have
won six of the last seven contests ... The Rangers next play the Islanders on
Tuesday at Nassau Coliseum.